


Seven Hours Until the Guests Arrive

by heartpanorama



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-08-19 21:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8225056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartpanorama/pseuds/heartpanorama
Summary: There are seven hours left until Usagi & Chibiusa’s birthday party starts. Makoto is in charge of the preparations and the other girls are helping out, but not everything goes according to plan…





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my friend Brian’s birthday. The story takes place in Crystal Tokyo and is told from Makoto’s point of view. There aren’t really action scenes in here, but the cute friendship-y scenes that we’ve been missing in the animes sometimes.

Seven hours until the guests arrive for the biggest birthday party in Crystal Tokyo. I got up extra early because Usagi-chan asked me to coordinate the preparations. Although it’s her birthday too, she told me to bake Small Lady’s favorite cake. It’s Chibiusa’s 1,000th birthday, so she’s supposed to be the center of attention today. But if I’m honest with you, I don’t really believe that Usagi will hold herself back all day long. She might be Neo Queen Serenity, but she’s also still Usagi as we know her, sooo… Anyways, I asked the girls to help me out with the baking as well as the decorating afterwards. They should arrive any minute now.

As I begin with preparing the ingredients for the big pink strawberry cake, I hear someone enter the kitchen door behind me. I turn around and see that it’s Ami-chan. I knew she’d be the first one to show up; she’s always been the most organized one of us five. “Oh Ami-chan, good morning…,” I stop, when I see the pile of paper she draws out of her bag, “Uh, may I ask what this is for?” Sweet Ami gives me a quiet smile, before replying, “I worked out a list of what we have to take care of, before the party starts.” I should’ve seen that coming. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at her, but why do we need so much paperwork just to organize a party? “Oh, thanks Ami. But I don’t know, if we really need this.” My heart sinks, when I see her expression turning from cheerful to disappointed. “Ah, you know what? Let me take a look at this,” I try to rescue the situation, which seems to work, as her face lights up again. Within seconds, she spreads a dozen sheets of paper on the kitchen table. “Here,” she says, “these are the things we are going to put onto the buffet… This is a plan of how we should place the tables and chairs in the Crystal ballroom, providing enough space for the guests to dance and also an area where Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san can hold their speech for Small Lady…”

Boom! What was that? Ami and I both are startled by the sudden noise. “Oops, sorry,” Rei-chan exclaims, as she walks into the kitchen with a huge box of… of what? “Ah, Rei, good morning,” I say, recovering from the sudden shock earlier, “What do you have there?” – “Oh, just some fancy stuff that you are going to LOVE,” she answers proudly. I don’t know whether I should be afraid of what is in there or delighted. She puts the box down to the floor and I take a step closer to glance into the brown cube made of cardboard. It is filled with all kinds of decoration materials. Especially the sparkly moon-shaped items catch my eye. “I see you discovered the beautiful table lamps we’re going to put on every single table in the ballroom,” Rei winks at me. I hesitate before expressing my thoughts, “Don’t you think this is a bit too much?” – “Actually, I…,” Ami starts, but Rei interrupts her, “Mako-chan! This is the biggest party of the year. There’s no such thing as ‘too much’.” She looks so convinced that all I can do is to blink at her in astonishment. Then I remember Ami wanted to say something, too. I turn to face her, “Ami, what was it that you wanted to say?” – “I, uh…,” she stammers, shifting her glasses on her nose and clearing her throat. “I actually already planned out the decoration in here,” she says, pointing at the sheets of paper on the table. “Woah, what in the world is that?” I heard Rei speaking behind me, but I ignore her comment. “But there must be a chance to include Rei’s suggestions as well, isn’t there?” I ask Ami. She nods slowly, pulls out a pencil from her pocket, and quickly scribbles something onto the sheets she’s been pointing at.

“Alright,” I exclaim, “everyone ready to start?” – “I thought Minako wanted to help us out, too,” Rei is wondering. “Yes, of course,” I reply, “but we all know she’s usually the last one to show up.” Ami and Rei both break out into laughter, when I say this. Just about then, we hear someone coming down the hall. They seem to be talking to someone, but we can’t figure out who it is. Afraid that it could be Chibiusa walking around, we quickly gather all of Ami’s sheets of paper and Rei’s cardboard box and shove it under the counter. We don’t want the surprise to be ruined for her. Shortly after, the kitchen door slightly opens and we all let out a sigh of relief, when we see who it is. The first one to appear is Artemis, putting his furry head through the door crack. “Good morning, ladies,” he meows. Then Minako-chan enters the room. Cheerful as she is, she greets the three of us with a hug. I notice the fancy clothes she’s wearing. Rei let out her remark faster than me, “Isn’t it risky to do kitchen work in this attire? I mean, nothing against your outfit, but you should’ve changed clothes, after the preparations are done.” Rei is known for speaking her mind aloud, especially among our friends. But that’s part of her personality and we’ve gotten used to it over the past centuries. We can’t be mad at her for expressing her opinion. After all, I guess we all were thinking the same just now.

To my surprise, Rei’s comment doesn’t bother Minako in the slightest. Instead, she pouted for a second, before her mouth turned into a crooked smile. “I know, but I thought I could start decorating right away,” she grinned, batting her eyelashes, “You know me; I’m way too clumsy to work in the kitchen, you wouldn’t want me to mess everything up here.” Artemis seems to sense the situation heating up and slowly backs away, “Uh, I think I should get going. Obviously, you wouldn’t want a certain furry cat to leave his hairs around the kitchen…” And within a blink of an eye, he is gone, racing through the door and down the hall. Rei isn’t all that happy with Minako leaving all the kitchen work to the rest of us. “I don’t know what to make of that,” she snorts, “you’re always leaving the hard work to us.” – “No, I’m not! That’s not true,” Minako replies, offended. Ami-chan is too sweet of a person to bring up the courage to interrupt our two divas, so I take over. “Girls! We’re wasting time with childish things like these,” I intervene. Not used to me being that straightforward, Rei and Minako stop arguing and look at me in astonishment. Ami lets out a silent giggle. “We can’t proceed with our work, if everyone wants their special wishes to be considered. Anyway, Usagi asked me to coordinate the preparations,” I say calmly. I can see in their faces that the three of them come to terms with what I just said and everyone nods in agreement. Then I pull out Ami’s plans and Rei’s box from under the counter.

After taking a quick look at Ami’s notes, I’m nodding too, “these are actually good ideas, Ami. Let’s keep it simple though.” Ami blushes at my compliment. “Awesome,” she whispers, her lips curling up into a smile. Glancing at the kitchen watch, I see that it’s already 9.30 o’clock – we’ve already lost half an hour. Six and a half hours left until the biggest birthday party of the year in Crystal Tokyo. We need to get started. Not sparing another thought about it, I assign the different tasks to my friends, “Minako, take this decoration plan and go prepare the ballroom. You don’t have to put candles onto the tables though, as Ami suggested. You can use the table lamps Rei brought.” Not giving Rei a chance to complain about this, I continue assigning the tasks, “Rei, please join her. Decorating isn’t as easy as everyone assumes. Also, moving around all the tables and chairs requires at least two people.” I’m glad the two of them accept my instructions unquestioningly and head out the door, making their way to the biggest room of the Crystal Palace. As they leave, I turn to Ami, “And you help me with baking the strawberry cake and the chocolate chip cookies, if that’s ok.” – “Oh yes, of course,” Ami answers. “Great,” I reply, “I think we’re going to be fine. After all, too many cooks spoil the broth. Also, the caterer will bring the food for the buffet in about five hours. I already called them yesterday and ordered everything we need. But thanks for making the list though, Ami. I appreciate your faith in my cooking skills, but I can’t possibly cook for the whole kingdom.” My sweet friend blushes again and says, “That’s true. Silly me! Why haven’t I thought of that?” – “Don’t worry,” I patted her shoulder, “let’s get started though!”

We’ve been working in the kitchen for about two hours, when someone knocks on the door. “Can I come in?” It was Mamoru’s voice. “Yes, sure,” I call out. While Ami takes the cake out of the oven and prepares the icing, I turn towards the king, who just entered the kitchen. Wiping my hands clean on my apron, I ask, “How may we help you, Your Highness?” King Endymion gives us a wry smile, “I told you not to call me that. It’s ridiculous to be called that after more than 1,000 years of our friendship…” – “Just teasing you,” I giggle, “So, what’s the matter?” Scratching the back of his head, Mamoru replies, “Right. Uh, I just got a call and it seems a group of about 20 guests are going to arrive early. Is this a problem?” Not wanting to get into panic unnecessarily, I try to stay calm. I hope it won’t take us too many rearrangements. “How much earlier?” I question, biting my lip. I’m relieved when he says, “Maybe an hour. Depends on the traffic though. It’s a crazy day in Crystal Tokyo.” – “That’s ok,” I assure him, “I’ll just call the caterer and ask them to bring the food earlier, too. There shouldn’t be any problem. Rei and Minako should be done with decorating soon. And we’re pretty quick here in the kitchen as well.” – “Awesome,” Mamoru exclaims, “good job, ladies. Alright, then I’ll leave this to you for now. I’ve got to check whether Usako and Small Lady need anything for the further preparations.” He vanishes through the door as quietly as he appeared.

After that, everything goes well. I’m glad there isn’t as big a chaos as we had last year, when Minako forgot to take the cake out of the oven in time, so it got burned, and Rei was so startled by Luna suddenly entering the kitchen that she fell backwards hitting the bowl with icing with her hand, causing it to spill all over the floor. Yes, I’m really happy this won’t happen today. The cake and the cookies are ready, so Ami and I carry them over to the ballroom, where Rei and Minako are already done with their work. They did a good job with decorating; I’m impressed. “Wow, awesome,” I tell them, “well done, girls. Okay, now everyone has maximum two hours to get theirselves ready for the party. We’re on schedule, no worries.” My friends nod approvingly and make their way to their rooms to get ready. As I head towards my room, too, I can’t help but smile mischievously. I believe I’ve handled this pretty well today. Let’s just hope the party itself won’t turn into a disaster. But I’m optimistic about it. Today is a good day!


End file.
